13
... The sun shone directly into Cornelius's eyes.
It's not a pleasant warmth, it's a searing fire.
— Dad! Darek! Where are you?—Cornelius stood up and looked around.
It took him a moment to even realize that he was not in the car, but somewhere on the sand.
There is no one around at all…
Not a hint of people.
— Dad! Darek!—Cornelius jumped up and ran forward.
He saw a road in the distance that he recognized.
They have to come here by this road… Here, in the forbidden lands…
It must have been a dream, but at the same time it didn't feel like a normal dream.
When his legs began to ache from fatigue, Cornelius noticed an object approaching him.
The car… Their car!
Something like a snake crawled out from under the asphalt, which was much further away than Cornelius had reached, ending in a mountain of stones and debris.
A few seconds... and the car flew off to the side.
Flames engulfed the car from all sides…
***
— ... Dad, get off the road!—Cornelius shouted when…
Did he wake up??
It was a dream after all!
Radoslav and Dariusz almost jump at his scream, but his father immediately turns off the road.
— You haven't moved or even breathed for so long! What happened?—Radek asks, driving as far away from the road as possible.
— I saw how our car was torn to pieces by a huge snake!—Cornelius sniffed the air.— Drive away, Dad! —
Just where they were driving before, the asphalt began to crack.
— Dad, we need to close all the windows so that it doesn't smell our scent!—Cornelius says fearfully.
Cornelius tries not to scream, but he still raises his voice very much out of fear. Fear very often overpowers the instinct of self-preservation.
He first tried to close the windows with both hands, then began to rotate one, and then the other.
For some reason, Cornelius knew that if you close the windows, you don't have to be afraid of anything. He is sure that these creatures can smell it.
No. He's not sure…
This is his strength for sure.
They stopped the car when a snake's head popped out of the ground.
— If she gets close, don't breathe or make any sounds! It's better to freeze like a statue!—Cornelius began to explain in a whisper to his brother and father.
The snake began to crawl out of its hole.
Cornelius held his breath and closed his eyes, and his family members followed suit.
For some reason, it seemed to Cornelius that with his eyes closed it would not be so scary.
The tongue of the giant snake slid across the glass with a terrible disgusting sound.
Darek almost flinched, but managed to overcome himself.
The snake looked at each window in turn.
Apparently, he or she or it did not notice the presence of life here.
Cornelius could feel the hearts beating against his chest.
Darek sighed as the snake lashed the air with its tail, preparing to go back to the hole from which it came.
Cornelius felt his blood run cold with fear.
But the snake still did not notice them.
— Oh...— Cornelius lay down on the back seats.— I thought I was going to die of fright...—
— I was a little scared too...—Dariusz said.— I was afraid that this overgrown worm would grab one of you. —
Cornelius laughed.
— Has my little brother grown up completely?—